Archive for January, 2009

The CTA Peace and Justice Caucus is sponsoring its fifth annual Youth Activist Awards Program with an awards ceremony scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2009 in Los Angeles. As our students develop their critical thinking skills and independent belief systems, we believe it is important that they understand that they can be instruments of change, and can find their own avenues for expressing their beliefs.

Please nominate a youth organization or individual youth activist who has been outstanding in the struggle for human rights, social justice, peace, and/or youth empowerment. You may nominate a student or group, elementary through high school age. Please note that we have also added one award for college students or groups.

Students and/or groups selected will be invited to receive their awards at a ceremony at the CTA State Council meeting at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel on March 21, 2009.

ALL OUT For Tomorrow’s Mass March in L.A.“LET GAZA LIVE!”
National Day of Emergency Action Saturday, January 10, 12 noonWestwood Federal Building
11000 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles (at Veteran)Click here for map and directions(Updated carpool, parking & other logistical info below)

Momentum is building for L.A.’s Regional Mass March and Rally to Let Gaza Live. Help us show the most solidarity we can for the Palestinian people.Please bring friends, family, coworkers, students and everyone who believes in justice to march together in L.A. for Gaza. Read this email for updates, logistical information and more.

People will gather at the Westwood Federal Building in Los Angeles at 12 noon. The Federal building is the seat of the U.S. government in L.A., the same government that supplies $15 million per day of military and economic aid to Israel.

At 1pm, there will be a mass march through Westwood. The march is fully permitted. Families and people of all ages are encouraged to attend.

Tomorrow’s march will be a strong expression against the U.S.-Israeli massacre of Palestinians in Gaza. There will be a children’s contingent to represent the hundreds of children who have been killed by Israeli bombs.

There will be a funeral procession with coffins draped with Palestinian flags, along with asymbolic die-in to illustrate the carnage inflicted by the U.S.-Israeli war machine. We will march by the headquarters of Occidental Petroleum, an massive oil corporation that has strong economic ties to Israel. After the march, a rally with speakers will begin back at the Federal Building.

Carpools are coming from all over Southern California to the march and rally. See a partial list below.

Now two weeks into the murderous U.S.-Israeli assault on Gaza, the wanton destruction of Palestinian life continues without pause. While the world responded in outrage to the Israeli bombing of a UN school in Gaza, which took the lives of dozens of children, still more atrocities continue unabated.

A U.N. agency said Israeli troops forced 110 Palestinian civilians to move to a house in Gaza City on Jan. 4, then shelled the building 24 hours later, killing 30 people. Although the Israeli military has imposed a complete media blackout, and is now firing on media that dares to report from Gaza, chilling photos have still made their way to the web, showing what the grotesque invasion really looks like on the ground. These photos make it clear that the entire Palestinian people, not just Hamas, are under attack.

We stand at a critical moment in history. For all people who believe in justice, there is nothing more important than joining the National Day of Action to “Let Gaza Live” in Los Angeles tomorrow.

From 405 going North: If the Wilshire exit is closed (it should not be), take Santa Monica going East. From there, make a left on Westwood Blvd. and a right on Wilshire to get to the Federal Building. You can also do this from the 405 going South.

From the 10 Freeway (going East or West):Take the 405 North and exit Wilshire going East. The Federal Building will be on your right hand side directly off the Freeway.

From the 101 Freeway (going East or West):Take the 405 South and exit Wilshire going East. The Federal Building will be on your right hand side directly off the Freeway.Carpools & Public Transportation

Los Angeles
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Visit http://www.mta.net, enter your starting point in the “From” box and enter “11000 Wilshire Blvd.” in the “To” box on the top right-hand side of the page. Buses regularly run down Wilshire to the Federal Building location.

OjaiCARPOOL: Meet at 9:30 am at Full of Beans parking lot on 11534 N, Ventura Ave, Ojai. Will be meeting up with stops in Ventura and Thousand Oaks. Contributions toward gas appreciated.
Contact Code Pink Ojai/VC Stop the War at 805-421-9708 or hola2tanya@yahoo.com.

Ventura
CARPOOL: Ventura, 10 am at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 4360 E. Main St. corner with Telephone Rd.
Contact Ventura County Stop the War Committee at 805-641-1789 or iso.ventura@yahoo.com if you are interested. No calls, no ride!

Thousand OaksCARPOOL: Thousand Oaks, 10:30 am at TO Trans Center, Rancho & Hwy 101
Contact ANSWER Ventura County at 805-241-0708 or answervc@riseup.netfor more info.Riverside
CARPOOL: Meet at 10:00 am at the corner of University Ave. and Iowa Ave. (behind the Spanish Book Store)
Contact Riverside Area Peace & Justice Action at 951-275-3501 for more info.
San DiegoTRANSPORTATION INFO TO LA: Contact Al-Awda at 760-685-3243, zahi@al-awda.org or Free Palestine Alliance at 619-980-0677, yabudayyeh@sbcglobal.net.

Parking Information

Best Parking Option: Lot C directly behind the Federal Building (off of Veteran) will be open for parking. The cost is $3. It is the most convenient parking in the area.

Street Parking: There is street parking along Veteran Ave. and in the blocks near the Federal Building south of Wilshire. Click here for a map of the area. If you are parking on the street, please read all parking signs carefully. Parking in a lot will most likely be easier and more convenient.

Bus Parking: If you or your organization is bringing a bus, call 213-251-1025 for drop-off/pick-up and parking info.

Volunteers Meet at 11am

To make Saturday’s March and Rally a success, dozens of volunteers are needed to help out in many areas. If you would like to volunteer, fill out the online volunteer sign-up sheet. Help is needed for security monitoring, handing out literature and placards, holding banners and more. On the day of the demonstration, check in at the ANSWER volunteer table (on the corner ofWilshire and Veteran) at 11:00am. If you arrive later and want to volunteer, check in at the volunteer table when you get to the march. Volunteers will be needed before, during and after the march.

Sponsors & Endorsers

Los Angeles action sponsored by: The Free Palestine Alliance; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; ANSWER Coalition, Palestinian American Womens Association, National Council of Arab Americans, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, Muslim American Society Freedom.

As you know, the situation is Gaza has been intolerable, but with full support of the U.S. government has gotten much worse. Israel has attacked the Gaza Strip continually since Sat., Dec. 27 with a massive air and naval attack that killed almost 400 people including at least 60 women and children. This attack was carried out using American supplied F-16s, Apache helicopters, and guided missiles. Now besides a blockade causing shortages of food, medicine, fuel, electric power, and commercial goods, there has been a massacre. The UN Secretary General, the Swiss government, and other groups have called the situation a humanitarian crisis and a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention. It is surely a violation of Jewish and international law.

The massacre and blockade are not only cruel and inhumane, but also counter-productive in that they fuel violence against Israel and works to undermine efforts to achieve peace through negotiations throughout the region.LA Jews for Peace urges everyone to speak out against the attacks and blockade, including our own government’s support of it. We call for an immediate cease fire and a resumption of shipments of food and medical supplies to the people of Gaza, a hold of U.S. aid to Israel until the blockade is ended, and admittance of journalists to Gaza to report on the desperate conditions.

Many thanks to all who joined us in the Emergency Demo for Gaza in Los Angeles on Tuesday, December 30 at the Zionist Consulate.

BUT THE BOMBARDMENT CONTINUES AND ISRAELI TANKS ARE SITTING AT GAZA’S BORDER READY TO ATTACK. THIS HORRIFIC SITUATION DEMANDS THAT WE TAKE ACTION AGAIN!

PLEASE JOIN US THIS FRIDAY 2nd JANUARY 2009 @ 4:30 PM

at the Israeli Consulate: 6380 Wilshire Blvd

SHOW YOUR OUTRAGE!

Sponsored By: Al-Awda Orange County, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego Chapters, Free Palestine Alliance, Palestinian American Womens Association, National Council of Arab Americans, Arab Community Center of the Inland Empire, General Union of Palestinian Women, Palestine Aid Society, Palestinian American Congress, ANSWER Coalition, International Action Center, Free Iraq Now, Orange County Friends of Palestine, Campaign to End ‘Israeli’ Apartheid, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, Women in Black Los Angeles, Middle East Fellowship of Southern California, Friends of Sabeel/Los Angeles, Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, Students for Justice in Palestine at California State University of San Bernardino, Muslim American Society, The Islamic Center of Hawthorne.